[Dr Kain]

All right, so I finished Watch_Dogs today and this review may contain some spoilers, so be wary. I'm going to avoid as much as possible though.

Positives:

+The stealth aspects of the game are fantastic. It is simply so much fun to take out as many bad guys in an area as you can via watching them through the camera more than just going into the area and shooting things up. This is the game's strongest aspect.

+Jordi is hands down the best character in the game. He is funny, has great stories, and is all around a badass. He is the character Aiden should have been as he is the only one that is actually likable.

+There are some really great missions throughout the game. The missions where you have to guide people through an area without getting caught was really fun and thought provoking. It definitely took away from doing the same type of missions over and it was used sparingly so that it wasn't tiresome.

+A lot of the side missions are great, especially the Convoy and Hideout ones. The hideout at the bridge in Pawnee is by far my favorite of them all.

+There are a lot of weapons to choose from (although, too many at times) and a good selection of cars.

+The story is pretty good as a whole.

+The city and its people are alive. It is funny watching two women talk to each other for getting into a car accident.

+Hacking.

+Spider-Tank, nuff said.

Negatives:

-Aiden is one of the most uninteresting and boring protagonists in gaming history. He makes Connor in ACIII look good.

-Driving feels like the cars are on ice to the point that it is pretty much like driving in the PS2 GTA games.

-Invisible walls spread throughout the city, making it impossible to get to some rooftops to just enjoy the view of the landscape the developers have finely crafted.

-There is simply nothing to do with your money. Yes, there are guns, ammo, cars, and clothing to buy, but at the end of the game, I had $973,000.

-Too much repetition. There is no reason for there to be 40 required Fixer Missions when there are only four types of Fixer missions. This game could have really used some assassination type missions or something that didn't require blowing people up while in a car.

-Online requirements to 100% the game. I refuse to 100% the game because of this. There is simply inexcusable to force people to play online just to entirely complete the single player experience.

-Minigames are more annoying than fun. If you want to know what annoying and boredom feel like, play the drinking game. After one round you will be annoyed that you have to go through that 29 more times.

-There are no rewards for your choice. Not killing anyone has no barring on the story for killing someone.

-The game has one of the worst, most laziest boss battles in the history of gaming. If you thought the boss battles in Deus Ex Human Revolution were bad, you haven't seen anything until you play this one. Not to mention the boss is a freaking sponge and he doesn't even have any armor on.

-The lack of being able to customize weapons and cars.

-Graphics look barely better than GTAV on the PS3. There are no shadows when standing in front of the headlights on cars, no ripples in the water when you shoot it.

-No helicopters or anything to fly in and look at the city from the sky.

-No missions that have you sneaking onto a boat or even missions that have some type of boat chase.

Overall, for a brand new IP, Watch_Dogs is not bad. It has some really great moments in it, excellent stealth mechanics, but it is very repetitive and most of the cast is unlikable, especially the main character. Hacking is fun, the gun play mechanics are standard, but the driving mechanics need to go. It is just not fun to drive and the driving is one of the reasons why the Fixer missions are annoying. It's a game that will hopefully improve a lot in its sequel provided Ubisoft actually takes their time with it and does not rush it out in a year. The story as a whole was good, there were some incredible missions, but the experienced was soured by dumb mechanics (like the online requirements) that could have been avoided all together. I give Watch_Dogs a 7/10, and while it is a good game, it is probably not one I will find myself ever replaying again.